Continuing after 'Skin Deep', this follows Emma as she tries to figure out who Mr. Gold really is, and what sort of secrets Storybrooke is really hiding. Gold/Emma, mentions Rumple/Belle, Prince/Snow, Jefferson/Belle, August/Red, Henry/Grace, etc NOW COMPLETE

After leaving Henry with the Mayor, Emma walked back into the office, curious as to what Regina didn't want her hearing.

"So what did she want?" she asked, slowly going towards the bars. Gold looked up, and Emma caught sight of the chipped cup.

"A cup? Seriously?" she glanced at his face, a funny expression on her own. "Don't tell me that's what you were missing? All for that?" Gold wasn't laughing, nor did he respond verbally. His frown just deepened. Emma frowned as well, a thought settling into her mind.

"Wait…was Madame Mayor behind this? Did she put French up to it?" Emma started to turn around, ready to march out the door and bring Mayor Mills back in for questioning, when Gold finally spoke: "You won't be able to pin it on her, Miss Swan, don't bother." Emma looked back at the older man. He glanced up, a dim sparkle in his eye, "So, did you bring me back that cone?"

Emma jolted, completely forgetting about the ice cream. He smirked knowingly. She bit her lip, "Sorry."

He shrugged, "It's not the worse act someone's done against me, Sheriff." He leaned back in his cell, propping his bad leg in front of him and resting the tiny china piece in his lap. His fingers slowly caressed the rim, running over the small chip almost sadly.

Emma took off her coat, and then without thinking, slowly walked closer to the jail in the corner. When she was about a foot away he looked up, and she almost froze at his eyes. For a moment, they didn't look normal, they looked larger, more dilated and…different. She braved a few more steps and found herself almost touching the bars.

His smirk widened, his 'normal eyes' already returned within a blink.

"You look troubled by something, Sheriff. What's in that pretty blonde head of yours? Hm?" The smirk turned into a grin, his eyes narrowing in amusement. Emma pursed her lips. She didn't know how he'd react to her next line of questioning. He's already proven to be very unpredictable, she didn't want him flying off the handle at her, but she really needed the answers.

For what reason she did not know.

'Probably just curiosity,' she tried reasoning. She took a breath. "You…" she paused. He cocked an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"You mentioned…a girl." The amusement vanished as quickly as the eyes had , "Will you tell me about her? Maybe I can help." She tensed, waiting for his response.

He chuckled, however no mirth traced his features. "Again, Miss Swan, don't trouble yourself. No one can help, not even you with your…hero complex."He sighed out the last two words, seeming to wilt under some sort of burden. Her left hand reached to grip the bars. "But why not? Why won't you talk about it?"

"Because it doesn't need to be spoken about!" his outburst made her jerk, catching her off balance. "It's already happened. It's a dead subject. There's no point in bringing it up now."

She gripped the bars with both hands tightly, "It was alive enough for you to beat a man half to death for."

He glanced up, his eyes sharp and cold. She repressed her flinch, her anger steadily rising at his stubbornness. She leaned in farther into the prison, "Just tell me, Gold. What if I can help?" she almost hated the pleading note in her voice.

He resumed his study of the teacup. He never even moved to speak and after long moments of bated breath and nothing from his side, she finally dropped her hands.

"Fine. If you don't want my help, that's fine," she almost turned to leave, but before she did she made sure to leave him with a parting word: "But even you can't do everything alone."

She resumed her walk back to her office, taking measures not to look at or anywhere near him.

That didn't mean that she couldn't feel his eyes on her for the rest of the day.

Somehow, and she didn't know how, but Gold managed to post bail.

She didn't want to admit it, but she missed another presence in the office. The place felt emptier, lonelier. She sighed and shuffled the papers on her desk.

She was still curious, very curious, about the man. He was so mysterious and, as she mentioned earlier, unpredictable. When she first met him he had seemed okay, but she was soon informed of his 'true nature'. Or at least how everyone else saw him. And then the whole debacle with Ashley…

But…then there'd be those tiny moments of humanity, a brief word or a flash of emotion in his eyes that turned her opinion on its head, confusing her all the more.

He was a dangerous man, though, and she couldn't trust him.

'But he isn't as bad as Regina,' a voice whispered. And she had to agree, pausing her writing to think over it. A glazed look overcame and she started to drift.

A horn honking outside brought her out of it.

"This is stupid!" she exclaimed, slamming the papers down angrily. She put her head in her hands, trying to get a hold of her emotions. Everything seemed to be getting more intense quicker than she could handle and it was starting to take its toll.

She missed Henry.

'You spent 10 years without him, voluntarily giving him away, and now you can't live without him?' her conscience berated her.

'I didn't know him then.'

She sighed, slumping down farther, letting her head rest on the desk with a thud.

'Who knew a place called 'Storybrooke' could be so chaotic?'

Just testing out this idea. I came up with it kind of after Skin Deep which was an entire other rant that I don't wish to type up right now. To put it short, I'm still a Golden Swan fan. I refuse to 'ship' Rumpbelle because it just doesn't seem like true love. At all. But this is going to include Belle, it goes with that storyline and this will be a Gold/Emma fic if I ever do get around to finishing it.

Honestly I don't have a plan for this fic, I'm kind of winging it, but any comments (minus flames) are appreciated. :)

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.